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Friday, September 22, 2006

A Look at Wii Sports 2...or Whatever It's Called (Wii Play?!)

A look at the extensive media from Nintendo's big blowout includes many screenshots from upcoming Wii titles. One that I'm really looking forward to is the next installment of the Wii Sports series. No, I don't know what it's supposed to be called, so for now, let's just call it "Wii Sports 2." Let's take a look at it.

Duck Hunt

Well, if they don't come out and call it "Duck Hunt," we'll still know what it is. This shot shows the target screen segment; also included are skeet shoots, and, yes, ducks! I'll bet you the dog is hidden in the game somewhere. Please, please, please, bring out all the classic gun games like Operation Wolf, Virtua Cop, Time Crisis.

Ping Pong

What's with the sudden interest in Ping Pong? Maybe it's something game designers have to do every once in a while; kinda like throwing on your old Motorhead records to get back in touch with your childhood. Another no-brainer game that should be a lot of fun to play with friends. The only problem is that Wii owners will already have played Tennis, which looks much prettier and also features doubles matches.

Fishing

Hey, classic gamers, remember Fishing Derby on the Atari VCS? That was David Crane's game, right? It's still a fun little game to play with a friend. It seems Nintendo must have played a couple games themselves. I really like the graphics style of this game, very similar to the zen-inspired cartoon drawings in Isao Takahata's My Neighbors the Yamadas. Have you noticed that Wii Sports 2 is a much more competitive beast? Better save up on extra controllers.

Air Hockey

Another game with inventive graphics. I love it! Neon lighting that evokes the memories of classic games from the early 1980s. If the speed is sufficently fast, and you can pull off some cool bank shots with your Wiimote, this will become a party game classic. Count Air Hockey as my favorite after Duck Hunt.

Pool

Hmm, a single-player game? Strange. I guess we need a change of pace now and then. I've seen some brief footage of this, and it looks like it could be really good. Pool usually doesn't translate well into a videogame. Will you be able to spin the cue ball, and make crazy trick shots? I'll assume the gameplay will be kept basic, so we'll have to wait and see.

Um....Uh, What The Heck is This?

This would be the, I dunno, the WTF game in Wii Sports 2. It looks pretty tripped-out, and again demonstrates how the design team is trying to push graphics into some novel directions. Given the relative weakness of the hardware (GC x 1.5), this will become necessary as time goes on. Hmm. I hope this is fun to play. Lasooing? Bumper Cars?

Ahh - some online research reveals this to be a "match" game, where you rotate your character to match the outline in the bubbles, before they reach the bottom of the screen. Surely the oddball of the pack. I really wish Nintendo would share the drugs instead of hogging them all.

Finally, I've discovered the name of this compilation: Wii Play. Huh. Yeah. Can we find somebody who Nintendo can use to come up with better names for things?